Universal Robots News

Part of Robot27’s mission to provide the best service possible includes staying informed on the latest trends in automation. Visiting trade shows around the country is one of the best ways to do that. Last month, Robot27 paid a visit to the Automate show in Chicago at McCormick Place – one of the industry’s largest gatherings of the year.

It was evident right from the start that Universal Robots continues to lead the collaborative robot industry. More than 85 UR cobots operated in the booths of more than 40 vendors during the show. From part handling and assembly to palletizing and packing, UR cobots showed their flexibility all across the floor.

UR’s dominant presence at Automate is greatly due to the success of the Universal Robots+ program. As a one-stop-showcase for UR-certified cobot accessories, UR+ takes the guesswork out of automation. One of the greatest frustrations for any manufacturer is ordering products that come with poor instructions. Many products take hours to set up and perhaps days or weeks to fine tune and get working. Others require calling a vendor technician or company representative to sort out the installation kinks. UR+ shows off products with easy-to-follow instructions and control interfaces integrated directly into UR cobots. Of the booths with UR cobots, 20 were developers of UR+ products and many, many more used UR+ products to perform tasks.

Since 2013, Google has been retooling its robotics program. The New York Times recently reviewed some of the new technology the tech conglomerate has been working on. Google’s researchers are currently focusing on machine learning – one of the hottest topics in collaborative robotics. The article notes that “machine learning – not extravagant new devices – will be the key to developing robotics for manufacturing, warehouse automation, transportation and many other tasks” in the coming years.

At Google’s new lab, two UR5 cobots were being used in their application called TossingBot. The first was equipped with an OnRobot 2-finger electric gripper and was using an overhead camera system and machine learning environment programmed by Google to pick random objects consisting of ping-pong balls, plastic bananas, wood blocks, and other items out of a bin and tossing them several feet across the room into a plastic box held by the other UR5. According to the article, it took about 14 hours of trial and error for the cobot with the gripper to learn from scratch how to locate and throw each of the random items into the plastic bin with 85 percent accuracy. When the program was first started, the cobots did not know how to throw any of the items in the bin. For comparison, researchers laden with the same task had about 80 percent accuracy.

This impressive marriage of physics, cobots, and a style of machine learning that google Google calls “deep learning” could shape the future for companies like Amazon and UPS. The Times notes that “humans sort through items that move in and out of distribution centers. A system like Google’s could automate at least part of the process…” which would certainly lead to faster order placement, faster product delivery, and lower costs for consumers.

Learn More About TossingBot in This Video from Google’s AI Blog

Every year in early February, the largest manufacturing expo in the West convenes at the Anaheim Convention Center for three action-packed days. With nearly 2,000 exhibitors and over 21,000 attendees, ATX West 2019 showcases the latest and the greatest in manufacturing and automation. Universal Robots cobots were at many booths throughout the Convention Center demonstrating various software and hardware products for a wide range of applications. Some of the most innovative applications were hosted at UR’s own booth at the show. In fact, UR’s booth secured the #2 spot on the Industrial Equipment News’ Top 5 Technologies List For ATX West 2019.

The first product featured in UR’s booth was a CNC interface designed for UR cobots by Versabuilt, a Certified Systems Integrator. Versabuilt’s demonstration showed how CNC machine tending could be achieved with an easy-to-program tool-changing and integrated CNC machine control with just a few selections from their software interface.

Next to Versabuilt at UR’s booth was Visumatic‘s automated screw driving application. With automatic fastener feeders, delivery confirmation, and support for multiple different screw-driving routines, Visumatic offered an elegant solution to automate repeatable fastener driving.

Also in UR’s booth was XPAK with a solution called ROBOX, a cardboard box assembling system. By entering the dimensions of the cardboard box into the cobot’s software interface, ROBOX would pick up a fresh, unassembled box from the supply pile, fold it, and tape it together all in just a few seconds. After passing through ROBOX, boxes were ready to be filled with myriad finished goods.

In total, more than 13 different booths at the show had a Universal Robots cobot in their display. Each showed off UR’s ease of programming and safety operating around literally thousands of spectators.

Since its inception in 2005, Universal Robots has continually pioneered advances in collaborative robotics. As the global leader in a market expected to reach $600 million in 2019 and $7.9 billion by 2027 according to Interact Analysis, UR is always looking for a way to keep its nearly 50 percent market share in new and innovative ways.

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Earlier this month, the Boston Globe reported that UR hired nearly two dozen employees from its former competitor Rethink Robotics of Boston, Mass. which is currently reorganizing under Germany’s Hahn Group after shutting its doors suddenly last year. UR President and CEO Jürgen von Hollen had “nothing but nice things to say” about his former competitor Rethink, stating that they were “One of the best competitors [UR] ever had” which pushed UR to continually improve its products. Robotics.org notes that the acquisition of some of Rethink’s top minds “will help expedite UR’s strategic ambitions and actions” over the coming years – especially with their knowledge of the cobot market and the needs of its customers. Rethink’s two collaborative robot systems, released in 2012 and 2015 respectively, were somewhat doomed to fail due to the cobots’ reliance on an imprecise spring-actuated motion control method. Despite this limitation, Rethink’s cobots sporting multiple-axis control, embedded and external vision, and built-in force sensing made a sizable dent in the cobot market.

While the Globe reports that the cobot market had “plenty of room for UR and Rethink to coexist”, it is hard to say for sure what the future may bring. More and more companies are entering the cobot market – from lower-cost UR copies from Asia to many of the traditional robotics companies like Kuka, Fanuc and ABB. The traditional robotics companies certainly have the pedigree and the talent to saturate the cobot market with new products. However, only time will tell how well these new market entrants will stack up against UR’s well-established cobot brand. It is obvious that cobots will be the automation segment to watch over the next decade.

Despite the increase in competition, UR continues to innovate to keep its edge in the global market. UR’s new e-Series cobots feature a redesigned programming interface and a host of new features and upgrades making them easier to program, redeploy, and operate than ever. You can read more about the e-Series in a previous blog post. Robot27 deploys UR cobots – which boast some of the fastest returns on investment in the robotics world – in most of its automation solutions.

On June 23, 2018, Universal Robots launched the new e-Series family of cobots at the Automatica trade show in Munich – the world’s most comprehensive trade show dedicated to automation. Along with UR’s staple features of rapid deployment, easy programming and setup, and high-tech safety protections, the new e-Series also includes a host of great new features. Integrated force-torque sensors, enhanced and redesigned teach pendant (UR’s programming interface) complete with lighter and easier-to-use cabling and touch controls, and additional input and control ports are just a few of e-Series’ benefits. You can read more about the benefits of e-Series on UR’s website. The Robot27 team has already completed several projects with e-Series cobots and have found them to be a fantastic new piece of machinery.

ODENSE, Denmark — The demand for collaborative robots is strong, particularly in Europe. Proof can be found in the explosive growth of Universal Robots A/S since the company launched its first cobot in 2008. In 2016 alone, UR’s revenue reached an estimated 662 million Danish krone ($94 million U.S.) and delivered a profit of DKK 92 million ($13 million) before tax, reflecting the booming cobot market.